Rachita Dash

Ph.D. Candidate, University of Virginia

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I am a final-year Chemistry Ph.D. candidate at the University of Virginia. My research focuses on developing and applying methodologies to assess the accumulation of small molecules and peptides across cellular surfaces.

I possess a strong background in solid-phase peptide synthesis (especially in synthesizing macrocyclic peptides), flow cytometry, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), MALDI-TOF, SDS-PAGE, protein expression, and click chemistry among other skills.

I am actively seeking positions starting 2026. Let’s connect!

news

Jun 15, 2025 Attended the 29th American Peptide Symposium in San Diego, California (funded by a travel award grant by the American Peptide Society) in San Diego, California :beach_umbrella:
Apr 10, 2025 :trophy: Awarded the Hunt Fellowship from the UVA Department of Chemistry for my final PhD year (2025–2026).
Mar 10, 2025 :trophy: Awarded the university-wide Jefferson Fellowship (Dissertation Year) by the Jefferson Scholars Foundation for my final PhD year (2025–2026).
Oct 05, 2024 :trophy: Selected by a University of Virginia College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences faculty committee for the Littleton Glover Endowed Graduate Fellowship for 2024-2025!
Aug 26, 2024 :placard: Presented on the systematic determination of the effects of macrocyclization on peptide permeability into Mycobacteria at the 37th European and 14th International Peptide Symposium in Florence, Italy :it:

selected publications

  1. profiling.tiff
    Profiling Cytosolic Drug Delivery in Mammalian Cells: A Generalizable Assay for Intracellular Accumulation
    Sobika Bhandari, George M Ongwae, Rachita Dash, Zichen Liu, Yuchen He, Mahendra D Chordia, and 1 more author
    bioRxiv, 2025
    (Under Review, JACS)
    PDF
  2. systematic.tiff
    Systematic Determination of the Impact of Structural Edits on Peptide Accumulation into Mycobacteria
    Rachita Dash, Zichen Liu, Irene Lepori, Mahendra D Chordia, Karl Ocius, Kadie Holsinger, and 5 more authors
    bioRxiv, 2025
    (Under Review, ACS Chemical Biology)
    PDF
  3. bioluminescence.webp
    Bioluminescence-Based Determination of Cytosolic Accumulation of Antibiotics in Escherichia coli
    Rachita Dash, Kadie A Holsinger, Mahendra D Chordia, Mohammad Sharifian Gh, and Marcos M Pires
    ACS Infectious Diseases, 2024
    PDF